Should I polish my chamber?

Justin9999 said:

The issue that remains is the second round in a fully loaded 7 round mag does not always feed fully, and I have to push the slide forward about 0.1” to fully reach battery. It seems to me that friction is the main culprit, so I’m wondering if polishing the chamber of the barrel is a good idea.

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No. There's is zero chance that friction in the chamber is causing your problem.

More likely the locking lugs or link are a bit tight or possibly the breech face or extractor hook is resisting the rim.

Really, you need to stop until you understand more about the pistol. Your phrase "polishing the feed ramp" is terrifying, and you should consider yourself fortunate that you (apparently) didn't ruin anything.

I strongly suggest Kuhnhausen's 1911 Shop Manual, before you do any more.

If you must polish stay far away from a Dremel. Use flitz on a soft rag and go slowwwwwww! Once the metal is removed that's it. Hope everything works out for you. And please post when you get it figured out. Might help out the next fella or lady.

Have you tried different magazines yet? This has been suggested several times to you.

You can polish the feed ramp, throat the chamber, tune the extractor, swap recoil springs, try different mag's, new mag springs, different followers, etc. But getting a 3" 1911 to run reliably can be challenging...especially if it's a Kimber. Yeah, I'm aware some people don't have any problems and their guns will shoot anything but IMO that is the exception rather than the rule.

3” 1911?

Why? Why do you have this pistol? Nothing about a 3” 1911 is a good idea, everyone who does even cursory research understands that the design doesn’t work reliably when it is made that small.

Please tell me you are not carrying this pistol or relying on it for any serious use. If that is the case and you are not in dire need of it for self protection, send it back to the manufacturer. Or sell it. Or chuck it in a garbage can after sledgehammering the parts into scrap.

Since you're considering magazines, Wilson Combat has some FAQ information on Compact 1911's, which your Kimber is, and here's one

https://www.wilsoncombat.com/faqs/

All the mechanical changes are important, but the biggest factor is ammunition selection because it affects both slide cycle speed and the magazine’s ability to lift the cartridge into position for proper feeding. Ammunition loaded with 230gr bullets generate more recoil impulse (especially +P loads) than 185gr loads, and 7 rounds of 185gr ammunition weighs 315gr less than 7 rounds of 230gr ammunition, making the column of ammunition easier for the magazine spring to lift. I hope you see where I’m going here?

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Justin9999 said:

The issue that remains is the second round in a fully loaded 7 round mag does not always feed fully,...

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Just a data point, but the Officer/Compact 1911 was designed around a 6 round magazine.

The next time it does this, drop the magazine to see if it will go into battery.

I had to polish a feed ramp once because Remington left tool marks on a RM380 that cause irregular feeding. Polishing worked. However, I would be very reluctant to polish a chamber since being cylindrical requires that you polish the entire cylinder evenly. I think that would be difficult to do accurately without he proper tooling. Thousandth of an inch is close tolerance. I just would not chance it.

While I object to the posts telling you to dispose of the pistol (seriously unhelpful and borderline toxic, IMO), the smallest reliable 1911 I've ever seen happens to be my Colt Gunsite CCO. Officer frame and Commander length slide. Due to geometry issues and other factors, it is very difficult indeed to get a small 1911 to run well in .45 ACP as you have found. I would definitely bone up on timing and lockup before breaking out the Flitz, if I were you.

OP,

Is the gun under warranty? If yes I'd recommend sending it back for repair as anything you do may void the warranty.

Tom

Archer said:

While I object to the posts telling you to dispose of the pistol (seriously unhelpful and borderline toxic, IMO), the smallest reliable 1911 I've ever seen happens to be my Colt Gunsite CCO. Officer frame and Commander length slide. Due to geometry issues and other factors, it is very difficult indeed to get a small 1911 to run well in .45 ACP as you have found. I would definitely bone up on timing and lockup before breaking out the Flitz, if I were you.

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Disposing of a badly made, stupidly designed firearm is not bad advice. Bad guns are more useful if they're melted down and made into something that actually works right. Sorry but small sub 4" 1911's are generally a bad idea, literally worth less than the steel and aluminum used to make them. They just don't work the vast majority of the time, the few that do are made by expert craftsmen who sink tons of expensive man hours into making them work correctly and thus cost a lot of $$$.

If blunt advice or observations are hurtful or "toxic" as you put it I am at a loss of what to tell you, my life experiences to this point involve a lot of bluntness and merciless input with no regard to my feelings. The USMC didn't care about my feelings, in my current industry if you're bad at your job or doing something stupid you will hear about it in no uncertain terms as well. This obsession with not hurting feelings with the truth or direct input is a cancer in this country. Pointing this out will probably get me banned, but it is what it is.

The next time this malfunction presents itself don't immediately try to fix the malfunction. Instead, closely examine the position of the cartridge rim in relation to the extractor hook and the breechface.

If the rim has been engaged by the extractor, you should measure the hook-to-breechface distance. It needs to be no less than .075" for a .45 (go to this LINK for additional detailed information on extractors).

If the rim has not been engaged by the extractor, smooth the breechface to remove any irregularities that may be preventing the rim from smoothly rising up.

Also, examine the case to see if it has any evidence of having been scraped by a sharp edge at the juncture of the chamber and the barrel ramp. If it has been scraped, you can gently and minimally round that sharp edge.

As has already been suggested, you can try a different magazine. You can also drop in an EGW Higher magazine catch which may solve the problem if nothing above has done the trick.

One other thing that probably has nothing to do with your 2nd round feeding problem is the speed at which the slide reciprocates. These short 1911s have a very high slide speed which often causes other kinds of feeding malfunctions like inertia feeds and bolt-over-base malfunctions. I suggest fitting an EGW or Harrison flat bottom firing pin stop. This will slow the rearward speed of the slide and help you avoid these other kinds of feeding problems.

These mini 1911s also eat up conventional piano wire recoil springs very quickly. You'd be better served buying a flat wire recoil spring and its corresponding guide rod. Check EGW and Wilson to see if they make these drop-in kits for your pistol.

Justin9999 said:

The next step after minimizing friction will be to increase the force, so a stronger set of recoil springs are on order too.

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While a stronger recoil spring may work, it will be masking an underlying problem that should be addressed. Increasing the forward speed of the slide is not a desired solution given the symptoms you've shared. In fact, it may cause other feeding problems.

Who is the manufacturer of your pistol?

You seem to have a solution you’re
already committed to regardless of advice given to you. At that point why bother asking.

Mods can you close this thread.

Justin9999 said:

I’ve made some big improvements in my 3” 1911 .45ACP with regards to feeding reliability by shortening the extractor and polishing the feed ramp.
*
The issue that remains is the second round in a fully loaded 7 round mag does not always feed fully, and I have to push the slide forward about 0.1” to fully reach battery. It seems to me that friction is the main culprit, so I’m wondering if polishing the chamber of the barrel is a good idea.
*
I’m a little reserved about polishing the chamber, because I do not want to have a measurable effect on the roundness, diameter, or the sharp edge of case mouth support.

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No. It will not help, and may cause more problems. But you do you.

I love these threads. They never fail to prove how accepting firearms enthusiasts are of complete mediocrity.

We buy guns that are known to not work right from companies with atrocious reputations for making products that don’t work, and who also don’t make an effort to fix their junk. Then we turn around and waste our own time and money trying to make the junk we bought, knowing it would probably be junk, work.

Never ceases to amaze me. Can you imagine if we bought vehicles this way? If you buy a new truck and it breaks down all the time do you accept that and try to fix it yourself?

Justin9999 said:

I am requesting that all future responses to this thread be limited to those which can conceivably aid in a methodical problem solving process.

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Then this one below is the only post here that matters, though I did answer your question correctly and succinctly in post #18.

edwardware said:

No. There's is zero chance that friction in the chamber is causing your problem.

More likely the locking lugs or link are a bit tight or possibly the breech face or extractor hook is resisting the rim.

Really, you need to stop until you understand more about the pistol. Your phrase "polishing the feed ramp" is terrifying, and you should consider yourself fortunate that you (apparently) didn't ruin anything.

I strongly suggest Kuhnhausen's 1911 Shop Manual, before you do any more.

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See, the thing is, you're new here, so you don't know who has what experience with the 1911, and at what level. Steve in Allentown and edwardware know what they are talking about. They have experience working on the 1911, I have a little myself. Google MOS 45B20.

You're thinking like an engineer, not a gunsmith. I strongly suggest you take edwardware's suggestion to read Jerry Kuhnhausen's 1911 manual before you proceed.

I was always told that when the cartridge is fired the brass case will expand and grip the scratch pattern in the chamber until the presure goes down and the case contracts releasing its grip on the chamber... so you should not put a shiney polish in a chamber. This was more geared towards semi auto rifles like a M1 Garand but it seems to reason it might be applicable in semi auto hand guns too.

I was told that you hone a chamber, never polish. Just like a cylinder in an engine or brake cylinder... hone, never polish. Honing leaves honing marks which are intentional for proper functioning of the machine.

Coal Dragger said:

I love these threads. They never fail to prove how accepting firearms enthusiasts are of complete mediocrity.

We buy guns that are known to not work right from companies with atrocious reputations for making products that don’t work, and who also don’t make an effort to fix their junk. Then we turn around and waste our own time and money trying to make the junk we bought, knowing it would probably be junk, work.

Never ceases to amaze me. Can you imagine if we bought vehicles this way? If you buy a new truck and it breaks down all the time do you accept that and try to fix it yourself?

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lol a lot of people DO buy vehicles that way.

JTQ said:

Just a data point, but the Officer/Compact 1911 was designed around a 6 round magazine.

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JTQ said:

Just a data point, but the Officer/Compact 1911 was designed around a 6 round magazine.

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These mags have never caused a issue in my compact 1911. I would like to know if the OP is chambering a round then topping off the magazine with another round though. That could cause the issue easily if the mag hasn’t been broken in. Stock mags are notoriously problematic.

Yes 3" 1911s can be a challenge. I have one of those Kimbers and the only mod I made was finding the right Ammo that functions well and use a quality Mag. I use to despise people saying they spent good money for a Tripp mag until I bought a couple. Wilsons are good as well. You can change all you want but the right ammo/mag combination is usually all that is required. Running it with one short in the mag sometimes is the key as well. Way to much emphasis placed on the more rounds is better...